In sailing vessels, it is usual to utilize a spinnaker for reaching and sailing down wind. A spinnaker is a triangular sail that is defined by a head with a balloon-shaped body and a clew and a tack forming the other two corners. To set the sail, a spinnaker pole is utilized, the spinnaker pole being swivably mounted to the mast and extending outwardly therefrom to be fastened to the tack corner of the spinnaker. The clew, having a sheet attached thereto, is normally led aft and the pole having a guy attached thereto, is also led aft so that between the sheet and the guy, the trim of the spinnaker as it relates to the angle of the apparent wind, may be suitably adjusted. Spinnaker poles of this nature have long been known and are exemplified as, for example, in the Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 358,673 of 1887. This patent also points up the problem that exists particularly for the cruising sailor in that it is difficult to jibe a spinnaker. Basically, while the pivoted pole might work in some situations, it has been found that the best system is raising the inner end of the pole up the mast, detaching the pole from one of the corners of the spinnaker and passing the pole down behind the head stay and reattaching it on the other side of the vessel. This is a complicated task which requires strength, knowledge and agility and a fairly large crew if the maneuver is to be completed with smart seamanship.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,910, there is disclosed the patent concept of mounting a spinnaker pole at the forward portion of a sailing vessel on a rigid support means by essentially rotatably securing the pole in a rotatable fashion on the support means and releasably holding the pole so that it can be slid transversely. The control of the pole is through manually moving the pole through a sleeve that serves as the rotatable securing device on the top of the support means together with a pair of lines, one of which is a sheet and the other a guide. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,217, an improved control for a spinnaker pole is disclosed where the pole is releasably held in a sleeve on a rotatable support that has pole control lines for laterally sliding the pole relative to the support clew lines for driving the clew out to the ends of the pole, as well as pole direction changing lines.
In contrast to these prior art patents, the present invention provides a pair of spinnaker poles which allows for remotely controlling the spinnaker so that it can be trimmed from a beam reach to a dead down wind, jibed, and headed up to a beam reach on the opposite tack. The spinnaker poles are spring loaded to an open position so that they can be retracted to any degree back to the sides of the hull of the sailing vessel where they can be attached in a closed position. The spinnaker poles and pole support in accordance with the present invention can advantageously be utilized in model sailing craft, such as remote controlled sailboats, so that the spinnaker poles can be remotely controlled to improve the operation of the spinnaker.